The Ascent of the Detective

Police Sleuths in Victorian and Edwardian England

Haia Shpayer-Makov

The first major history of English police detectives in the Victorian and Edwardian era

Deals with the formative era of police detection in England, from 1842 to the First World War

Explores their socio-economic background and situation as well as their crucial relationship with journalists and the publishing community

Includes a special focus on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard

The Ascent of the Detective

Police Sleuths in Victorian and Edwardian England

Haia Shpayer-Makov

Description

The figure of the detective has long excited the imagination of the wider public, and the English police detective has been a special focus of attention in both print and visual media. Yet, while much has been written in the last three decades about the history of uniformed policemen in England, no similar work has focused on police detectives. The Ascent of the Detective redresses this by exploring the diverse and often arcane world of English police detectives during the formative period of their profession, from 1842 until the First World War, with special emphasis on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard.

The book starts by illuminating the detectives' socioeconomic background, how and why they became detectives, their working conditions, the differences between them and uniformed policemen, and their relations with the wider community. It then goes on to trace the factors that shaped their changing public image, from the embodiment of 'un-English' values to plebeian knights in armour, investigating the complex and symbiotic exchange between detectives and journalists, and analysing their image as it unfolded in the press, in literature, and in their own memoirs.

The Ascent of the Detective

Police Sleuths in Victorian and Edwardian England

Haia Shpayer-Makov

Table of Contents

IntroductionPart 1: The Detective in His Work Milieu 1. Police Detection in England: Eighteenth Century-First World War2. From Bobby to Detective3. The Detective as Wage Earner and Official Crime FighterPart 2: Detectives and the Print Media 4. The Uniquely Symbiotic Relationship between Detectives and Journalists5. The Changing Image of Police Detectives in the Press6. Police Detectives in Fiction7. Police Detectives as AuthorsConclusion

The Ascent of the Detective

Police Sleuths in Victorian and Edwardian England

Haia Shpayer-Makov

Author Information

Haia Shpayer-Makov currently teaches British and European history at the University of Haifa, Israel. She began her academic career by concentrating on the anarchist movement in Britain, but later shifted her interest to the study of the anarchists' enemies--policemen. Author of The Making of a Policeman. A Social History of a Labour Force in Metropolitan London (2002), and co-editor with Professor Clive Emsley of Police Detectives in History, 1750-1950 (2006), she has also published extensively in leading scholarly journals.

The Ascent of the Detective

Police Sleuths in Victorian and Edwardian England

Haia Shpayer-Makov

Reviews and Awards

"[W]ell written and exhaustively researched....The writing is extremely clear and precise, and the author's choice of illuminating examples enlivens her analysis considerably."--Journal of Modern History

"This is a detailed and well-organized look at the British detective at the scene of the crime, in the newspaper, and in novels. At the start of this rich historical account, the very idea of a detective force is acceptable to no members of any class within Britain, and by the end, the detective is regarded as, if not a hero, then at least a stolid, hardworking official with the best interests of the public at heart. An ascent indeed."--The Dispatch

"This is a fascinating foray through many types of print sources discussing detectives...[T]he careful attention to the cultural forces at work in the creation of both the profession and detective genre makes Ascent of the Detective a vade mecum to anyone embarking on further study of this subject."--Journal of British Studies

"While Shpayer-Makov's history follows the broad outlines of previous histories....The Ascent of the Detective provides such an enormous amount of textual support that it will be an invaluable resource for scholars entering the conversation as well as those interested in the vast body of detective narratives beyond the usual suspects."--Victorian Studies